How It Ends
by GirHugs
Summary: Cutting the wire isn't going to be an option this time. (Songfic/Character Study about Tony as he flies the nuke through the portal)


**Disclaimer: Avengers belong to Marvel.**

**A/N: This character study was inspired by (and title in reference to) the song "How It Ends" by DeVotchka.**

* * *

"Stark, you hearing me? We have a missile headed straight for the city."

A slight pause and then a steady voice asking, "How long?"

"Three minutes."

Three minutes. Alright, yeah, he can work with that; he _has_ to work with that. And he will, cause three minutes is a long time for Tony Stark, whose brain works faster than _most_ people and _some_ computers.

Three seconds is enough for him to run through a dozen different hopeful plans for how to handle the situation.

It's futile, really, because that is exactly what his calculations are, hopes. Not solutions. Nope, there is only one of those, and both Fury and Tony knew what that was the second the word missile left Fury's mouth.

Cutting the wire isn't going to be an option this time.

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out…

Minds all clear, clearest it's been in a long time. All the numbers and the equations and the lines of code, gone. All gone. Leaving a strange sense of calm to settle into all the free space in his head.

He thinks he should maybe be a little nervous about this plan of action. Fear would be a normal reaction here, right? You know, to Tony knowing he's going to die.

But when the only other option is millions of people dying…well, sacrificing himself isn't really sacrificing much at all, now is it?

Nope. Not much at all.

He flies over the city, the HUD picking up brief glances of the war-zone below. The Hulk surrounded by a dozen alien ships, Legolas-dude flinging himself off the side of a building, Natasha gritting her teeth as she picks up the chaos scepter-thing, Thor and Cap battling it out on the street side-by-side.

It's a glance into a future he will never get a chance to live in. A glance at a team he will never get a chance to be a part of.

A team with a mild-mannered genius who he won't get to make scientific breakthroughs with, a pair of people he won't get to meet after he pulls away all the guards and masks they are forced to wear as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, a god he won't get to question about science-defying magic, and a soldier from the past he won't get to teach just how amazing the future can be.

He sees the missile now. Harsh sunlight glances off the metal and stings his eyes. He blinks away the blur of tears. And then he's shooting forward, catching it, pushing it, steering it towards the endless expanse of space that exists just on the other side of the portal.

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip," Cap's voice calls over the comm.

Yeah, he knows. God, does he _know_.

But it's… okay.

He can accept this. There's dignity in dying like this. Because despite what others may think, he's not just a suit of armor. He's a man with people he cares for, albeit, it's a very short list of people. But those people that do make it onto that list? Yeah, those people mean _everything_ to him and they are _his_ people to protect, at _all_ costs.

He aims upwards, towards the portal that will leave his world far behind him. The nuke a heavy weight on his shoulders. He's fucking Atlas.

He tries to call Pepper. Wants to hear her voice just once more. Apologize for being an asshole, for worrying her, for making her life so stressful. Wants to thank her for…well, for being Pepper.

Amazing, caring, smart, beautiful Pepper. Pepper, who accepted him and all the baggage he dragged around every day of his severely messed up life.

He's through the portal now.

Pepper…

The call fails.

…Goodbye.

He's staring down an army of aliens and the vast expanse of space that surrounds them. He releases the missile.

He opens his mouth to thank JARVIS for sticking by him through everything. Wants to ask him to take care of those he's going to leave behind. Before he gets the chance the HUD goes dark.

And he's…_alone_. Fuck, he hates being alone.

A moment of panic rushes through him and his breath catches for just a second. And then there are flashes.

Of the people and the world he's sacrificing himself for. They sear through his mind and he remembers why this is how it has to end.

He watches the nuke explode. A burst of light in the endless black.

He closes his eyes.

And falls.


End file.
